Where in the Multiverse is Osgard Blatterzarn?

Just a little update regarding what I’m up to at the moment, as I’ve been a bit wretched at posting recently. Quite a number of my MMO-blogging twitter pals have been talking about World of Warcraft’s upcoming Cataclysm expansion in recent weeks. The old world zones are going to suffer great upheaval, with a lot of old content being replaced with new content that possibly even more densely exudes a sense of loss and corruption.

It got me thinking that perhaps it might be a good time for me to pop back and see those old zones again before they change. I did not play WoW for very long, perhaps a month or two, so I don’t have anything like the same emotional attachment towards them as I do for EQ2’s older areas. Even so, I thought I would go on one last pilgrimage through them.

This decision was made a lot easier with the knowledge that (once I managed to figure out my old login details, and convert my account to the newfangled Battlenet variety) I had some free time waiting for me, including a ten day upgrade to Burning Legion. In the four years since I last played I had completely forgotten how to play any of my characters, so I deleted and recreated my old Dwarven Hunter, Osgard, last seen being a Rogue/Paladin in DDO, and before that, an Engineer in Warhammer Online. Wherever there is evil to be vanquished, and gadgets to be played with, you’ll find Osgard!

I’m always fond of pet classes. Possibly because I’m lazy, and would much rather have someone else do all that strenuous fighting for me. That someone, for Osgard, is Bjarn; a rare polar bear that can be found in the Tundrid Hills of Dun Morogh, if you can get to him before someone else tames or kills him. He’s functionally identical to every other bear, and I suspect every Dwarven Hunter these days knows about him and tames him, but he was my boon companion the first time I played, so it would have seemed ungrateful to head over to the Draenei lands and tame a giant moth.

Osgard and Bjarn visit Westfall.

I’m about halfway through my ten free days. I’ll be surprised if I resubscribe, but I may do for the lead up to Cataclysm, as it should be rather fascinating to see how well the game and its community deal with such massive change. If nothing else it has given me a few ideas for posts, and my screenshot folder is full to bursting!